Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 Mid Tower Case Review

Hardware Installation

An empty case is boring and a waste, time to fill it with some components and see how it holds up in the end.

With the Arc Midi R2 only having front USB 3.0 ports, this would typically require an adapter to convert the USB 3.0 internal connector to a USB 2.0 connector. Fractal Design has thought about that and integrated the converter onto the USB 3.0 header cable.

It might just be me, but whenever I do cable routing, the rubber grommets around the cable routing holes are always an issue. They come off very easily. The ones on the Arc Midi R2 weren’t an issue, I was able to route all the cables behind the motherboard tray and never had an issue with the rubber grommets! Behind the motherboard tray there is more than enough room to route the cables, and keep them looking good.

Originally, I had planned on installing an Intel 520 180GB SSD behind the motherboard tray, however I found that unless you install the SSD before the motherboard, you had better plan to remove the motherboard. This is a major flaw in my opinion. Thankfully, there are plenty of drive trays which will accept SSD’s.

Overall, the completed build can easily come out looking great. For this build, the Zalman CNPS9900NT was included, it is a large cooler at 152mm (6 inches). Fractal Design lists 180mm (7 inches) cooler compatibility within their specifications.

With everything installed, a quick look through the window reveals the entire motherboard, with some extra that shows the cable routing holes. A nice clean build will look great through the smoked window.